Rick Wade on Free Trade

Advocated for Asian-Pacific and African cooperation

As former Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Wade had a hand in all major policy, personnel and program matters at the Commerce Department. He also worked closely with stakeholders including the
White House, other federal agencies, members of Congress, state and local elected officials, businesses, trade associations as well as non-governmental organizations. Wade was a forceful advocate for the department's priorities
at many domestic and international forums, including the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation, African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum, Conference on the Caribbean and
Central America, and the Department of State Policy Coordinating Committee on Brazil. He was also the Special Envoy to the Caribbean; oversaw private sector initiatives in Haiti; and led trade missions to various parts of the world.

Envoy to China, to get investment via EB-5 visas

His Commerce Department job allowed Wade to hone a skill that might explain his value to GreenTech Automotive: he became a US envoy on Chinese and Asian trade.

GreenTech's majority owners have ties to China and the company seeks to raise capital from
that country. It is mired in controversy over its use of a program here called EB-5, which allows foreign nationals to obtain US visas in exchange for their investment in targeted US companies. Each investment must produce at least 10 jobs.

NEI: government-wide export-promotion strategy

The Commerce Department exists to make American businesses more innovative at home and more competitive abroad. And Commerce provides direct services to businesses to protect their intellectual property, make their processes more efficient, and help
them export around the world.

And the export part of our portfolio has become even more important of late with the announcement of President Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), which aims to double American exports over the next five years
and support two million jobs here at home.

The NEI represents the first time the US will have a government-wide export-promotion strategy with. The NEI will be primarily focused on:

improving government trade promotion in all its forms;

expanding export credit to businesses--especially small and medium-sized ones; and

Increasing the government's focus on knocking down barriers that prevent U.S. companies from getting free and open access to foreign markets.